Early the next morning, Chu Wan went to the morning market at Yuyuantan where there were also antiques for sale. She strolled around and took a fancy to an octagonal vase with that glutinous rice body. The vase had figures painted on it, which looked elegant and ethereal. The price was not expensive. The other party asked for thirty yuan, and she thought she could bargain.
After taking a look at it, Chu Wan finally gave up.
Great-grandfather was old and couldn’t stay with her for much longer. She was not in the mood to stay in that village and fight with those people for the house. Where she would live in the future was still a problem. She would probably rent a place in the city.
She knew too well the feeling of wandering around without a place to stay. This kind of easily broken porcelain was a luxury for her, difficult to carry and very inappropriate for her situation.
It didn’t matter if she gave this up. In this day and age, opportunities were everywhere, and they all seemed to be good things. She had to pick the ones easiest to re-sell and expand her own business as quickly as possible.
She went to other places to look around but in the end didn’t buy anything. However, she also got a general understanding of the antique market of this era.
There were only two types of people who came out to sell things these days. One was the shovelers, mainly from the Wen’an area of Xiong County, Hebei Province, and some from Shandong. These people go around the countryside to collect things and then sell them in the market. They only know the basics, and they just sell things for two or three yuan. They put them in the antique market and try their luck, depending on the market conditions. In short, they won’t lose too much.
The other type was a small number of old Beijingers who have some old items at home that survived the looting, or had been confiscated after their homes were searched and were now returned. Since now was a good year, they took them out to sell.
After hanging around like this for two days, she borrowed a leather jacket from Hu Huiyun. The jacket was a little big for her at first, but at least it was better than her old cotton-padded jacket and was somewhat more decent.
Hu Huiyun handed her a white scarf and said, “It looks much better this way.”
Chu Wan also thought it was good, so she dressed up and went out. She went to the jade craftsman’s house. She had to say that the jade craftsman’s ancestral carving skills were really amazing. He carved five bats according to the shape of the jade. The beauty of it was that the five bats all had different postures, each with its own vividness, and each one was carved with the natural color and texture of the jade in mind.
As for the peach in the middle, it made full use of that little bit of red.
Chu Wan was quite satisfied. She thanked the jade craftsman and went straight to Langfang Ertiao with the jade.
Since the Qianlong period1, the area around Langfang Ertiao has been full of jewelry stores. Later, the Eight-Nation Alliance arrived and burned down Qianmen Dashilan, the most prosperous commercial district in Beijing. The fire burned for three months and also spread to the areas around Langfang Ertiao and Santiao. After the ‘Xin Chou Treaty’, the merchants here dug up the rubble and rebuilt their shops. The market gradually recovered and became a gathering place for pearls, jade, and jewelry in Beijing.
At that time, this street was also very famous abroad and had a special name: ‘Jade Ware Street’. Foreigners who came to China to buy pearls and jade would come here.
However, after Liberation, this place naturally looked completely different. It was either nationalized or jointly operated by the public and private sectors. The only two or three jewelry stores operating were also under the jurisdiction of the Cultural Relics Bureau.
The person Chu Wan was looking for was Mr. Qian. Before Liberation, he ran two shops on Langfang Ertiao. After Liberation, he successfully passed some activities as a ‘basic law-abiding household’.
However, he was a smart person. Before the public-private partnership became the trend, he had taken the initiative to close the business and went to work in the Beijing Cultural Relics Shop. He used to be the deputy manager of the Juzhenzhai store2 and was also a member of the appraisal team of the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau.
As a junior, Chu Wan couldn’t help but sigh at Mr. Qian’s vision when thinking about these things. This vision was not only about identifying jewelry, jade, and porcelain, but also about seeing the direction of social trends clearly.
In this regard, it has to be said that he has left his Liulichang colleagues far behind.
It was also because of this that when Mr. Qian retired, Chu Wan successfully recruited Mr. Qian into her team and he became her capable subordinate.
Chu Wan arrived at the Cultural Relics Shop, explained her purpose, and took out her jade, suggesting she wanted to sell it. A jade appraiser soon came over to take a look. After examining it, he said, “It’s new jade, and the material is okay. But we’ve had so many jades delivered recently, so it’s not so rare anymore. 5 yuan, please.”
After hearing this, Chu Wan took it back and didn’t sell it anymore. Before leaving, she said, “This is suitable for an old man’s birthday. It’s only 5 yuan. I might as well keep it and give it to the family’s old man later.”
As she was speaking, Mr. Qian happened to come in from outside. When he heard this, his eyes immediately swept over Chu Wan.
Chu Wan smiled at him politely as a greeting.
Mr. Qian had worked under her, and she knew Mr. Qian’s background very well.
Old Master Lu’s friend, the general, loved jade and happened to be celebrating his birthday soon. Mr. Qian knew the general’s son, and as a shrewd man like him, he naturally had the ability to discern jade.
Sure enough, when Mr. Qian asked, Chu Wan handed the jade in her hand for Mr. Qian to see.
Mr. Qian’s eyes suddenly lit up and he looked at Chu Wan deeply.
Chu Wan smiled.
Mr. Qian winked at the receptionist, signaling them to leave, and then asked Chu Wan to step aside to talk.
Mr. Qian was obviously puzzled. Such a frail girl, who looked only about sixteen or seventeen years old, brought such a piece of jade and spoke calmly and confidently. She did not have the timidity of an ordinary girl at all but seemed to have seen a lot of the world.
The key point was that, just when he was asked by his good friend to find a piece of jade for the old general’s birthday, this piece of jade was delivered to his door.
Mr. Qian was a very smart person. He now had some doubts and was afraid that the other party would ask for too much.
He lowered his head and stroked the jade in his hand. It was originally just an ordinary piece of jade. Although the material was good, it was not difficult to find. The beauty of this piece was the clever use of color and the shape. The five bats were carved vividly, and the red peach in the middle was so beautiful that it was really amazing.
He then smiled and tentatively said, “This piece of jade may not be that good, but the meaning of ‘five blessings holding longevity’ is pretty good.”
When Chu Wan heard this, she naturally understood that he wanted to buy it.
One should know that there was a saying in the industry that those who praise and criticize were buyers, and those who applaud were idlers.
Only those who want to buy something would criticize it.
She immediately smiled and said, “One could tell at a glance that you are an expert. You have a good eye.”
She didn’t brag either; she just took what he said as the truth.
Mr. Qian looked at Chu Wan meaningfully and asked the price tentatively.
Chu Wan was not shy. “I wouldn’t ask for much, 80 yuan is enough.”
Mr. Qian was surprised and stared at Chu Wan and said, “Isn’t this a bit expensive? This piece of jade itself was not worth this much money. For 80 yuan, you could buy a large piece of high-quality jade.”
Chu Wan smiled and said, “If you meet a filial son or grandson, they would always be willing to pay for their old man’s birthday. I don’t mind waiting a few more days. As the saying goes, Jiang Taigong3 fishes, and those who are willing would take the bait.”
Mr. Qian restrained his smile and then said, “Then we could only try it, but I can’t say for sure about the price.”
After hearing this, Chu Wan left the store.
… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
The next day, she went there again and asked about it, but Mr. Qian held her back and said that a customer wanted to buy it, but was only willing to pay 66 yuan for good luck, and the customer was unwilling to pay a penny more.
He looked at her helplessly. “Look, this was something you didn’t come across easily. If you sell it, you’ll get the money. If you don’t sell it now, you could only wait.”
When Chu Wan heard this, she didn’t hesitate and sold it directly for 66 yuan.
Mr. Qian helped with the transaction, and Chu Wan successfully received 66 yuan.
In fact, she naturally understood that Mr. Qian might have made some profit from reselling it to the general’s son, but it didn’t matter. This was how business was done. Since you were using others as a go-between, you had to let them make money. Such a low-cost piece of jade, with clever use, could be sold directly for 66 yuan, which was already a huge profit for her.
The most important thing for her was to get cash as soon as possible.
She now had more than 70 yuan in her hand, and finally felt a little more comfortable.
… ..
So the next day, she took the money and hurried to the Yuyuantan morning market again.
Nowadays, antiques, gold, and silver were not allowed to be bought and sold privately. Antiques and jades must be brought to shops operated by the Cultural Relics Bureau, and corresponding household registration books and other documents must be brought along. As for gold and silver, they could only be sold to the People’s Bank of China.
Gold and silver would be fine, at least they have a certain price and were clearly marked, but cultural relics had no price. Cultural Relic Shops tried to lower the price. For example, they only offered 5 yuan for the jade that Chu Wan had. Naturally, she was not willing to sell it to the cultural relic shops.
As for the antique market, the things sold were all unearthed by shovelers. They were secretly collected in the countryside to make a profit, and they dared not go near the legitimate antique shops.
Those who want to buy cultural relics have nowhere else to buy them. The Cultural Relics Shops purchased the good ones and sent them off to museums, while the average ones were exported and sold to foreigners in exchange for foreign currency.
Of course, Cultural Relics Stores also had items stored in inside warehouses, which were used for research and study by internal guests. However, the internal guests were only some senior intellectuals, some artists, and cadres above Administrative Level 13. Ordinary people would have no chance of getting involved.
As a result, sellers could not sell, and buyers could not buy. If they bought and sold privately, it would be considered speculation. But the problem was that where there was demand, there was always a market. Ordinary people sell secretly, forming some illegal markets—such as Panjiayuan Market and the Yuyuantan Morning Market.
Those who patronize these places must be vigilant about these kinds of market transactions. If things go wrong, the Cultural Relics Bureau may come and arrest people.
Chu Wan wanted to buy one or two things to keep, but after just a quick glance, she didn’t find anything she liked.
Seeing that it was only 10 minutes away from 8 o’clock, those who had set up stalls to sell goods were packing and leaving, one after another. Chu Wan was naturally a little disappointed. She should have gone to the Lu family today. After all, Lu Shouyan knew that she was in the city, and it would be rude for her not to visit Old Master Lu.
If she went, she would probably only stay at their house for 2 days, and then go straight back to Yongling Village. It was impossible for her to go out to buy goods while in the Lu house, so she would naturally felt disappointed that she wasn’t able to find anything suitable to resell and make money.
But even though she was disappointed, she didn’t dare to be too reckless. After all, selling antiques was illegal these days. If she could buy the antiques and sell them at any time, that would be fine. But if she bought an unsuitable one and couldn’t sell it for a while, it would be a real hassle.
What she lacked most at the moment was money.
Thinking of this, she planned to go back. But as she was walking, she saw a man who was thin, with sunken eyes, and a sallow complexion. He was wearing a thin army green, cotton jacket with several patches on it. In the cold wind, he hunched his neck and sighed as he rolled up the bundle on the ground.
Just as the bundle was rolled up, Chu Wan saw shadows of some line carvings.
The first sight instantly revived her energy and spirit.
It was like how you could tell, with just a glance, whether the person facing you was a man or a woman; Chinese or a foreigner. You don’t even need to think about it, you could know it subconsciously with a glance.
Even with the eyes of a beginner, one could tell at a glance that it was beauty—the beauty of line carving.
Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com
T/N: I know, I know, so many place names. I have to keep them in pinyin because these are real places in Beijing. If you google them, they’re very popular with tourists these days for shopping and culture.
Octagonal vase. ‘Glutinous rice body‘ is a description of good quality—smooth and white like glutinous rice.
… …
In Chinese symbolism, a combination of bats and peaches is a powerful motif representing longevity and good fortune. Peaches symbolize immortality and long life, while bats are associated with good luck because the Chinese word for bat sounds like the word for blessing. The five bats are especially significant, representing the five blessings: longevity, health, wealth, virtue, and a peaceful death.
Below is the official description of the jade I used as chapter picture. It’s awesome to know that jade carvers really do utilize the natural colors of the stone this way 🥰
The jade is naturalistically carved from a pebble in the form of one large and one smaller peach growing from a leafy branch. A russet area in the stone has been utilized to depict a bat, carved in relief. A smaller bat sits on top of the two fruits. The jade is of white tone with some russet and mottled areas.
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Chapter 9 — In My Eyes, This Is 200 Yuan
FOOTNOTES:
- The Qianlong period refers to the reign of the Qianlong Emperor the Qing Dynasty (1735–1796), a period often called a ‘golden age’ of China, known for its unparalleled prosperity, cultural achievements, and territorial expansion. ↩︎
- The Juzhenzhai was a famous antique shop that operated during the Republic of China. ↩︎
- Jiang Taigong was a military strategist (circa 12th Century BC). He served the last emperor of the Shang dynasty—who was incompetent and deeply infatuated with his concubine (you may have heard of Daji, often depicted as a fox spirit). Jiang went into exile and famously spent his days fishing without hook or bait, saying that the fish would come to him on their own once they are ready. In due time, he was recruited by the opposing faction and they overthrew emperor, establishing the Zhou dynasty. ↩︎
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